https://phys.org/space-news/planetary-sciences/ en-us Planetary science and exoplanets exploration news stories and features from Phys.org A Jupiter-sized world just 7.5 light-years away is cloudy, chemically complex and, it turns out, more like home than anyone expected. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, Brittany Miles, assistant astronomer at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, led a team that spent 11 hours staring at WISE 0855, the coldest known brown dwarf, collecting a spectrum of its light every 15 minutes. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-discovery-variable-clouds-solar.html Astronomy Fri, 09 Oct 2026 14:20:12 EDT news710767022 NASA's SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the universe, Epoch of Reionization, and ices Explorer) space telescope is shedding light on brown dwarfs, celestial objects that blur the line between stars and exoplanets. New findings published in The Astrophysical Journal show that these dark and cloudy worlds have chemically rich atmospheres not unlike the giant planets in our own solar system. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-spherex-menagerie-brown-dwarfs-atmospheric.html Astronomy Fri, 09 Oct 2026 09:20:05 EDT news710755921 The European Space Agency–led Solar Orbiter spacecraft has flown through an S-shaped kink known as a "switchback" in the solar wind's magnetic field. By fingerprinting the elusive particles within the switchback, Solar Orbiter has traced its origin back to the sun's surface and revealed more about solar magnetism—the unruly instigator of dangerous solar storms. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-solar-orbiter-tracks-mysterious-magnetic.html Astronomy Thu, 08 Oct 2026 05:00:10 EDT news710588161 Scientists using the European Space Agency's Mars Express, in combination with a state-of-the-art meteorological model of the Red Planet, have found that there may be some exotic physics behind Mars' most curious cloud. The paper, "Homogeneous ice Nucleation from Water Vapour Suggested by Elongated Clouds on Mars," is published in Nature Geoscience. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mars-oddest-cloud-odder-previously.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 07 Oct 2026 11:01:01 EDT news710520301 Allen Schnibben's interest in space started when he was a child. "I picked up some books about the solar system when I was in elementary school. In middle school, I got a telescope and I started observing the night sky as a hobby," said Schnibben, a computer scientist at Sandia National Laboratories. "My entire life, I've had an interest in space." Now, Schnibben collects data on satellites at Sandia's SOHBRIT facility, a 12-foot-wide (3.7-meter-wide) observatory. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-scientist-tracks-satellites-automated-observatory.html Astronomy Tue, 06 Oct 2026 20:20:01 EDT news710521202 Transporting material from Earth to the moon is an expensive proposition: By some estimates, moving a single kilogram (2.2 pounds) can cost more than $1 million. Any plan to build a permanent human habitat up there will depend on bringing that sky-high cost down. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-simulated-moon-soil-recyclable-thermoplastics.html Space Exploration Tue, 06 Oct 2026 18:40:01 EDT news710509742 A newly released panorama captured by NASA's Curiosity rover offers the most detailed view yet of distant, wind-carved Martian cliffs, highlighting features the mission's scientists have long been waiting to see up close. The scene was snapped at 8:30 a.m. local Mars time, showing striking blue hues in the foreground as bright morning light illuminates crags known as yardangs on the horizon. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nasa-curiosity-rover-stunning-martian.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 06 Oct 2026 16:00:07 EDT news710515681 The only known supernova remnant of its kind in the Milky Way has an unexpectedly intricate structure: chains of gas knots resembling pearls on a string, each wide enough to fit the solar system multiple times. Using the Gemini North telescope, an international team co-led by Ilaria Caiazzo, assistant professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), captured the most detailed view yet of Pa 30, revealing striking new features of the remnant associated with a historical supernova witnessed nearly 850 years ago. The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-images-unique-supernova-remnant-reveal.html Astronomy Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:00:18 EDT news710494434 Global positioning systems are a key feature in everyday life for much of the world's population. Whether it's ensuring a ship delivers its goods safely or helping you avoid a road closure on your commute home, GPS can help. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-gps-constellations-drifting-moon.html Space Exploration Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:40:08 EDT news710499481 Like Earth, most planetary bodies circle their star in stable, detached orbits. These companionable systems can suddenly change when a planet comes too close to its star. In such a close encounter, a star can pull the planet in and swallow it whole. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-astronomers-star-slowly-snacking-brown.html Astronomy Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:40:16 EDT news710425861 Astronomers have discovered the first example of a second-generation planet orbiting a white dwarf, a world that appears to have formed from the remains of the dead star it now orbits. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-phoenix-planet-astronomers-world-reborn.html Astronomy Mon, 05 Oct 2026 11:00:15 EDT news710162342 Saturn's icy moon Enceladus hides a global ocean beneath its frozen surface. From fractures near its south pole, material from this ocean is ejected into space as a plume of water vapor and ice particles. These particles offer scientists a rare opportunity to investigate an extraterrestrial ocean without drilling through kilometers of ice. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-enceladus-ocean-spray-chemically-diverse.html Astrobiology Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:01 EDT news709890049 A nearby star system with two suns could potentially support an Earth-sized planet in a region where liquid water could exist, according to a new paper examining the dynamics of the system. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-qa-earth-planet-suns.html Planetary Sciences Sat, 03 Oct 2026 13:00:01 EDT news709951576 NASA has selected a Planetary Science Institute–led proposal to investigate whether a potentially large underground cave extends beyond the opening of a lunar pit. Such a cave may one day provide a safe haven for astronauts to escape the radiation and extreme temperature swings present at the lunar surface. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-team-nasa-explore-potential-lunar.html Space Exploration Fri, 02 Oct 2026 19:20:06 EDT news710166291 Astronomers using Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array have found that nearby stars darken toward their edges more strongly at near-infrared wavelengths than predicted by several widely used models of stellar atmospheres, providing a new benchmark for understanding how stars are structured. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-stars-infrared-expose-gaps.html Astronomy Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:20:20 EDT news710153702 As humanity looks toward future bases on the moon, plant cultivation will be critical for sustaining life there. Plants can provide food, oxygen, medicine, water purification and waste recycling, making them indispensable for lunar development. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-moon.html Astrobiology Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:40:15 EDT news710153581 In the early history of our solar system, scientists theorize that a Mars-sized object called Theia smashed into the infant Earth, vaporizing massive amounts of rock and blasting it into space. Some of that material coalesced into the moon, where NASA's Artemis program is returning humans, preparing for Mars and shaping the future of space exploration. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-webb-planet-shattering-collisions.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 01 Oct 2026 18:00:13 EDT news710078942 The Mars we know today is a cold, dry world of dust and rocks. However, around 3.8–3.6 billion years ago, it may have looked very different. Geological and mineral evidence suggests that, in its distant past, the planet experienced periods warm and wet enough for water to exist on its surface, potentially forming rivers, lakes and even an ocean in the northern hemisphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ancient-life-chemistry-clues-mars.html Astrobiology Thu, 01 Oct 2026 10:40:11 EDT news710065741 It's a busy skywatching month ahead. The first full week of October sees two top-notch skywatching events, with Saturn reaching opposition and the moon occulting Jupiter for North America on Oct. 6. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-rare-lunar-occultation-jupiter-saturn.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 30 Sep 2026 18:00:04 EDT news710003521 A team of researchers led by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan discovered unexpectedly intricate magnetic structures above quiet-sun regions by observing the sun with the balloon-borne solar observatory Sunrise-III during its 2024 flight in Earth's stratosphere. The work is published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-stratospheric-observatory-sunrise-iii-reveals.html Astronomy Wed, 30 Sep 2026 16:00:01 EDT news709987081 For decades, astronomers have identified collisions between two neutron stars through bursts of gamma rays that can disappear in less than two seconds. But some of these violent encounters may also reveal themselves through X-ray flashes lasting several minutes. A new study published in Science Bulletin provides evidence for this connection, suggesting that merging neutron stars could be hiding among cosmic flashes whose origins have remained uncertain. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-astronomers-link-mysterious-cosmic-collisions.html Astronomy Wed, 30 Sep 2026 15:40:15 EDT news709986721 Is there life elsewhere, or is Earth unique in the universe? This is one of humanity's great unanswered questions. One way to approach this mystery is to investigate how life began here on Earth. Our research explores the conditions in which a mixture of molecules somehow transformed from chemistry into biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-sugar-meteorites-survival-early-earth.html Astrobiology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:20:06 EDT news709980361 Four and a half billion years ago, Earth and Mars were born in the rotating cloud of gas and dust that would eventually become our solar system. Yet exactly how the planets formed remains one of the most disputed questions in planetary science. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-earth-mars-built-cosmic-recipes.html Astrobiology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:00:01 EDT news709980001 Although Mars may have once resembled Earth, the rocky red planet now appears far from hospitable. Still, certain details—such as ice-bound water—pique researchers' curiosity. As on Earth, ice on Mars contains valuable records of past climate that could reveal whether the planet hosts, or has ever hosted, life. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-north-pole-mars-dusty-scientists.html Astrobiology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 09:00:22 EDT news709975621 This summer, exoplanet science—the study of planets orbiting stars beyond our sun—took a big step forward. Reports of helium gas escaping from the atmosphere of LHS 1140b propelled this exoplanet from the pages of scientific journals into the mainstream media. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-alien-life-possibility-exoplanet-lhs.html Astrobiology Tue, 29 Sep 2026 19:20:02 EDT news709919582 New research led by the University of Michigan is helping set the stage for future observatories to characterize rocky planets outside our solar system, planets that could prove life isn't confined to Earth. The new research represents the most sensitive modern search for giant planets in a nearby binary system—a system with two stars orbiting each other—known as 70 Ophiuchi AB, or 70 Oph AB. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-suns-giant-planets-nearby-binary.html Astrobiology Tue, 29 Sep 2026 14:20:06 EDT news709903801 Scientists have helped solve a longstanding mystery about how Earth remained habitable after oxygen first accumulated in its atmosphere more than 2 billion years ago, providing evidence that ancient ocean chemistry sustained life-friendly conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ocean-chemistry-life.html Astrobiology Tue, 29 Sep 2026 13:40:11 EDT news709903621 Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have rewritten a small part of Oklahoma's geologic history with global implications for ancient life. Below the surface of the small town of Ames, Oklahoma, a meteor impact site spans miles. The crater is buried by sedimentary strata in the subsurface, but it remains an important marker of Oklahoma's ancient past and present-day economy; the Ames impact structure is a major oil and gas producer. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-meteor-oklahoma-million-years-previously.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 28 Sep 2026 17:50:01 EDT news709834441 The moon no longer has a global magnetic field, but lunar rocks and soils still contain records of ancient magnetism. Studying the magnetic minerals in these samples can help scientists understand how the moon's magnetic field evolved over time. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-scientists-lunar-magnetic-fossil-samples.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 28 Sep 2026 13:40:10 EDT news709814101 What are the chances of finding extraterrestrial life in our solar system? Frank Postberg, a professor of planetary science at Freie Universität Berlin, has published a study in Science Advances with an international team of researchers. They present new evidence that it is easier to determine the constituents of the ocean hidden beneath Enceladus's icy surface than previously assumed. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-great-news-saturn-moon-enceladus.html Astrobiology Fri, 25 Sep 2026 14:00:21 EDT news709396040